Transcendental Etudes is
Gábor Csalog's submission in response to the assignment "Compare and Contrast the Etudes of Franz Liszt and György Ligeti," and it is a great response. He not only has the skills to play these challenging works, but the daring to mix them, essentially alternating the two composers. This allows the listener to hear immediately that the similarities of the two outweigh the differences. At first, the contrast between Liszt's essentially tonal and melodic etudes and Ligeti's more atonal, less melodic etudes is stark. As the program continues, the similarities emerge, forcing their way out of the music. Both composers are exploring the sound of the piano and the technique needed to produce those sounds. Each etude, whether by Liszt or Ligeti, is precise in what is needed for successful, physical execution. However, each also transcends beyond a mere mechanical exercise by creating a specific sound world with specific emotional or descriptive expressions.
Csalog is extremely aware and careful of how sound is used, making both Liszt's and Ligeti's music evocative and eloquent. Ligeti's Coloana infinita perfectly describes the "beads" in Brancusi's towering sculpture. He groups together etudes with somewhat comparable character, such as Liszt's Ab irato and Ligeti's L'escalier du diable.
Csalog makes the relationship between Liszt and Ligeti so obvious, it's like discovering your missing glasses on top of your head.